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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Ukraine’s foreign minister has called on Poland to impose “fair and exemplary” punishment on those who engage in xenophobic behaviour towards Ukrainians, following reports that a Ukrainian schoolgirl was subjected to abuse at a Warsaw school.
“It is unfortunate that we have to return again and again to the shameful treatment of Ukrainians in Poland. But the approach taken towards Daria is absolutely unacceptable,” wrote Andrii Sybiha on Facebook, adding that Ukrainian authorities were following the case closely.
His comments refer to the reported bullying of 15-year-old Daria Gladyr, the daughter of Ukrainian volleyball player Yurii Gladyr, by fellow pupils at a private school in the Polish capital. Polish media published recordings in which teenagers can be heard directing verbal abuse at the girl, including xenophobic slurs.
The case comes amid a broader shift in sentiment in Poland, where polls show growing negative sentiment towards Ukrainians, who are by far Poland’s largest immigrant group.
According to Onet Przegląd Sportowy, which first reported the bullying, the girl was expelled from school, after her parents refused to pay tuition, demanding that the school respond more decisively and separate their daughter from her bullies.
Sybiha said he had raised the issue directly with his Polish counterpart, Radosław Sikorski, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent visit to Warsaw. “I received assurances that the Polish side would respond appropriately,” he said.
“As Ukraine’s foreign minister, I insist on just punishment for those who indulge in xenophobic acts against Ukrainians, both in Poland and in other countries. Ukrainians definitely do not deserve such an attitude,” Sybiha said.
Yurii Gladyr, a former player for Ukraine’s national volleyball team, is currently playing for a local Polish volleyball club, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie. He obtained Polish citizenship in 2013.
While Poland has been one of Ukraine’s strongest allies since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, taking in millions of Ukrainian refugees and serving as a key transit route for Western military aid, recent polls suggest that support for Ukraine among Poles has weakened.
According to state pollster CBOS, the share of Poles expressing negative views of Ukrainians had increased to 38% in February this year, up from a low of 17% in 2023.
An October CBOS survey also found that support for accepting Ukrainian refugees had fallen to 48%, the lowest level since the polling began on a regular basis following Russia’s annexation of Crimea and down from a high of 97% in March 2022.
A separate November survey by IBRiS for news website Wirtualna Polska showed that 65.5% of respondents believed Polish-Ukrainian relations had deteriorated in 2025. Regular polling by the Kyiv-based Razumkov Centre has also indicated a decline in Ukrainians’ perceptions of Poles.
For the first time, a majority of Poles believe the war in Ukraine should end even if it means Kyiv ceding part of its territory or independence.
Support for that view now stands at 55%, more than double the 24% found two years ago.
Read our full report: https://t.co/3XDTjQlSZA pic.twitter.com/qLHZxoBkQi
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 20, 2024
Tensions between the two countries have flared over issues including blockades of the border by Polish truckers and farmers protesting against cheaper Ukrainian competition and the legacy of the Volhynia massacres during World War Two, in which Ukrainian nationalists killed about 100,000 ethnic Poles.
Sybiha noted, however, that preserving good relations remained in the interests of both countries.
“Our nations and our countries deserve neighbourly relations and strategic partnerships. It is in our common interest to prevent and respond to such hostility,” he said.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)
Alicja Ptak is deputy editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She has written for Clean Energy Wire and The Times, and she hosts her own podcast, The Warsaw Wire, on Poland’s economy and energy sector. She previously worked for Reuters.
